Thermal insulated bottle

ABSTRACT

A thermal insulated bottle comprising an inner container (2) adapted to receive a liquid, enclosed within an outer housing (3) and coupled thereto by sealing connection elements (4) to define therebetween a substantially airtight hollow space (5), ornamental and/or indicating elements (20,21) associated with the bottle and visible from the outside. The ornamental and/or indicating elements (20,21) are located within the hollow space (5). At least a part of the housing (3) is made of a uniform material transparent to light, chosen among thermoplastics materials including polyethylene, polypropylenes, PVC, polycarbonate. The ornamental elements consist of a label or film (20) made of paper, plastics and other similar materials, loosely inserted within the hollow space (5). The indicating elements comprise thermometric element (21) consisting of a heatsensitive band (22) affixed to the outer surface of the lateral wall (6) of the inner container (2).

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a thermal insulated bottle,particularly adapted for sports and leisure, as well as for home andprofessional activities. More particularly, the thermal insulated bottleaccording to the invention is of the type comprising an inner containerenclosed within an outer housing and coupled thereto by sealingconnecting means to define therebetween a substantially airtight hollowspace, ornamental and/or indicating elements associated with the bottleand visible from the outside.

BACKGROUND ART

Thermal insulated bottles are known which have the inner container andthe outer housing generally made of the same basic material such as forexample aluminium or plastics and are not optically transparent so as toreduce heat transmission induced by the light. The ornamental and/orindicating elements normally consist of labels which are either attachedto the outer surface of the housing or directly printed on this latter.

A drawback of the known aluminium bottles resides in that they aresubject to permanent deformation and to scratches caused by impacts.Moreover, also the ornamental and indicating elements may suffer damagesconsequent to abrasions and hits thereby detracting the overallappearance and attractiveness of the bottle.

A drawback of the known plastics bottles reside in that the paints usedfor the ornamental elements, the inscriptions and the decorations mayrelease smells at relatively high temperature. In addition, even thoughthe sidewalls of the housing have an impact resistance higher than thatof the aluminium bottles, in this case the decorating and the indicatingelements can be easily removed from hits or abrasions and can be damagedby atmospheric agents. A problem of the known thermal insulated bottlesis that in several cases it may be helpful or necessary to know thetemperature of the liquid contained in the bottle, in order to avoidburning when drinking too hot liquids or to avoid dispensing of liquidstoo cool for several uses.

A simple method for measuring the temperature of the liquid would bethat of introducing a thermometer into the inner container or attachingit to a closure of the bottle, however this would render the bottlerather cumbersome, expensive and breakable.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to obviate the abovementioned drawbacks by providing a thermal insulated bottle havingornamental and indication elements with high resistance to impacts,abrasions and atmospheric agents and which is capable to furnish to theoutside information on the liquid contained in the bottle withoutopening it.

Another object is to provide a thermal insulated bottle which allows toknow with a relatively high precision the temperature of the liquidcontained in the bottle within a limited range of temperature.

These and other objects which will be clearly apparent hereinafter areaccomplished by a thermal insulated bottle which comprises an innercontainer for receiving a liquid, a housing arranged outwardly of thecontainer and coupled thereto by sealing connecting means to definetherebetween a substantially airtight hollow space, ornamental and/orindicating elements associated with the bottle and visible from theoutside, characterised in that said ornamental and/or indicatingelements are located within said hollow space, said outer housing havingat least a part optically transparent through which the ornamentaland/or indicating elements are visible from the outside while beingprotected from atmospheric agents, impacts and/or abrasions.Advantageously, the outer housing can be made by a substantiallyuniform, clean and optically transparent material chosen amongthermoplastics materials including polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC andpolycarbonate or glass.

Preferably, the inner container is made of a material having arelatively high thermal conductivity chosen among aluminium, steel,glass, carbon and other natural or synthetic materials.

The ornamental elements may be constituted by a label of paper orplastics materials, loosely inserted within the hollow space or attachedto the other surface of the inner container.

Alternatively, the ornamental elements may be formed by a pigmentedlayer printed or silk-screen printed on the outer surface of the innercontainer. The indicating elements may comprise thermometric meanslocated within the hollow space and visible from the outside of thebottle to measure the temperature of the liquid contained therein.

Preferably, the thermometric means may consist of a heat-sensitive bandattached to the outer surface of the inner container.

The heat-sensitive band may be formed by a strip of plastics materialson which a plurality of dots of liquid crystals are placed each adaptedto change its color in correspondence of a predetermined temperature.

Appropriately the liquid crystal dots are marked with temperature valuescorresponding to their color-changing temperature. Thus, it will bepossible to promptly measure the temperature of the liquid receivedwithin the container without introducing thermometric means within thebottle.

As the heat-sensitive band can be easily found in the market, and theinner container and the outer housing may be made of low cost materials,the bottle as a whole is relatively inexpensive and easy to manufacture.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING

Further characteristics and advantages will become apparent from thefollowing description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of athermal insulated bottle according to the invention, illustrated by wayof non-limiting example with the aid of the attached drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a general lateral view of the thermal insulated bottleaccording to the invention, partially sectioned along a vertical axialplane.

The thermal insulated bottle according to the invention, generallyindicated with the reference numeral 1, is essentially formed by aninner container 2 made of a material having a relatively high thermalconductivity adapted to receive a liquid, and an outer housing 3 made ofa material having a relatively low thermal conductivity. The housing 3is radially spaced apart from the inner container 2 and is coupledthereto by a suitable connecting means 4 so as to define a substantiallyairtight hollow space 5 therebetween.

In a per se known manner, the inner container 2 has a lateral wall 6 ofessentially cylindrical shape joined to a bottom wall 7 inwardly bulgedand provided with an upper circular edge 8.

The outer housing 3 has a lateral wall 9 of similar cylindrical shapewith inner diameter approximately equal to the outer diameter of theinner container 2 with an upper circular edge 10, and a substantiallyplanar bottom wall 11.

The sealing connecting means 4 may be formed by an upper closure flange12 having a peripheral downwardly directed formation 13 defining a seatwith a substantially U-shaped cross-section to snugly fit over andengage the upper edges 8, 10 of container 2 and housing 3. An O-ringseal 14 of rubber or other resilient material is preferably interposedin the seat 13 to airtightly close the hollow space 5.

Preferably, the bottom wall 7 of the inner container 2 is spaced apartfrom the bottom wall 10 of the outer housing 3 by means of anintermediate layer 15 of thermally insulating material.

Thus, the container 2 and the housing 3 are mutually coupled to avoid adirect contact with each other to thereby obtain an optimum thermalinsulation enhanced by the airtight hollow space 5.

The upper closure flange 12 is provided with a nozzle 16 closed by aremovable plug 17 and shielded by a removable cap 18 hinged at 19.Ornamental and/or indicating elements visible from the outside areprovided on bottle 1.

According to the invention, the ornamental and/or indicating elementsare located within the hollow space 5. Moreover, the outer housing 3 hasat least part thereof which is clear and optically transparent to allowthe ornamental and/or indicating elements to be viewed from the outsidewhile being protected from the atmospheric and mechanical agents such asimpacts and abrasions.

Accordingly, the housing 3 can be made of optically transparent plasticsmaterials such as polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC and polycarbonate,charged with additives to improve resistance thereof to impacts andabrasions, or glass.

The ornamental elements can be constituted by a label 20 of paper or afilm of plastic material, printed or silk-screen printed in a per seknown manner. Label 20 may be either loosely inserted within hollowspace 5 or firmly attached to the outer surface of the inner container 2by means of any suitable adhesive. As an alternative, the ornamentaldrawings and inscriptions present on label 20 may be directly printed orsilk-screen printed on the outer surface of container 2 or on the innersurface of housing 3 using well-known four-color printing techniques.The ornamental elements may be possibly constituted by a particularfinish of the outer surface of container 2 or of the inner surface ofhousing 3 obtained by any suitable mechanical or chemical process.

Finally, the decorations and/or inscriptions may be placed on apigmented inner layer enclosed in a multi-layer plastic material formingthe housing 3, obtained with well-known co-lamination process.

The indicating elements may include thermometric means, generallyindicated with the reference numeral 21 and similarly disposed withinthe hollow space so as to be visible from the outside while beingprotected against outer atmospheric and/or mechanical agents.

The thermometric means are preferably formed by a heat-sensitive bandwhich is anchored to the sidewall 6 of the inner container 2. Moreparticularly, the heat-sensitive band may be formed by a thin strip 22of plastics material attached or glued to the outer surface of the innercontainer 2 by means of a suitable adhesive or by other means, on whicha plurality of dots 23 of liquid crystals of a given color are layered.

Thus, the container 2 with its liquid content will be placed at directcontact with the heat-sensitive band 21.

In order to promptly indicate to the outside the temperature of theliquid collected in the container 2, each of the liquid crystal dots 23are adapted to change color when reaching a predetermined temperature.Heat-sensitive bands of the above-indicated type can be easily found onthe market and are not subject of the present invention.

Advantageously, a plurality of figures corresponding to the temperaturesexpressed in Celsius degrees at which the change of color takes placeare marked on each of the dots 23. For example, figures 20, 30, 40, 50,60 and so on are marked on the different dots 23 for indicating thecorresponding temperatures 20° C., 30° C., 40° C., 50°, 60°. Obviously,the indicated temperatures may also be different and more finelydistributed and the overall range may be broader to include valuescomprised between 0° C. and 90° C. From the foregoing it is apparentthat the thermal insulated bottle according to the invention achievesall the intended objects and particularly it is highlighted that theornamental and indicating elements can be easily viewed from the outsidewhile being protected by any mechanical and atmospheric agent.

What is claimed is:
 1. Thermal insulated bottle, comprising:an innercontainer; a housing arranged outwardly of said inner container andcoupled to said inner container by a sealing connecting device to definea substantially airtight hollow space between said inner container andsaid housing; ornamental elements associated with the bottle and visiblefrom outside the bottle, said ornamental elements being located withinsaid hollow space, said outer housing having at least an opticallytransparent part through which the ornamental elements are visible fromoutside the bottle while being protected from atmospheric agents,impacts, and abrasions; indicating elements located within said hollowspace and visible from outside the bottle; said inner container beingmade of aluminium and said housing being of optically transparentthermoplastics; and said indicating elements comprise thermometric meansfor indicating temperature arranged in direct contact with a side wallof said inner container.
 2. Thermal insulated bottle according to claim1, in which said optically transparent thermoplastics are chosen amongpolyethylene, polypropylene, PVC, and polycarbonate.
 3. Thermalinsulated bottle according to claim 1, in which said ornamental elementscomprise a sheet-like element loosely inserted within said hollow space.4. Thermal insulated bottle according to claim 3, in which saidsheet-like element is attached to the outer surface of said innercontainer by means of adhesives.
 5. Thermal insulated bottle accordingto claim 3, in which said sheet-like element is made of paper. 6.Thermal insulated bottle according to claim 3, in which said sheet-likeelement is made of plastics.
 7. Thermal insulated bottle according toclaim 1, in which said thermometric means comprises a heat-sensing bandaffixed to the side wall of said inner container.
 8. Thermal insulatedbottle according to claim 7, in which said heat-sensing band comprises astrip of plastics material on which a plurality of dots in liquidcrystal are deposited, each one of said dots being adapted to changecolor in correspondence of a predetermined temperature.